They had £40k to spend on the Midget
My goal is to have my conversion completed for around £5k and so far I'm around £1700 into it.
I will then start looking for a pristine 05 or 06 HSE with all the bells and whistles.
Yip I forgot about the Sport.Don't forget a Sport Premium Ali, which has all that HSE has, with a nicer set of wheels and better handling.
Looks fab. A bit more explanation would help me (and others) work out what this bit is all about and how it fits as I am at a bit of a loss to see what it is exactly !!
Is the bit in the middle purely a mandrel for alignment?
I am sure in due course with photos all will become clear (er) !!!
Thanks
So today I spent a bit of time coupling the gearbox and motor.
First I put the motor onto the bench, reconnected it to the ebike motor, slipped the coupler on and got the grinder out.
With the motor spinning ground back the lip Nodge left on the Freelander spline and now I really understand why his lathe struggled with it. The flap wheel took ages to grind it back but eventually I was happy and dug out the welder and made a start.
View attachment 229670
It's taking a long time to weld as I need to avoid heating the hardened splines so I'm doing a couple of welds then blowing compressed air on it until it's cool enough to handle and doing it again. Once I'm happy with the outer splines I'll sort the inner ones.
I've also put the motor onto the gearbox and spun it up which was very exciting to see but it'll take me a wee bit of time to edit the video before I can show that.
No vibration at all Nodge.You mean the coupler I made actually joined the motor to the gearbox without too much vibration?
I'm pleased. Whilst I machined the parts to the finest tolerances I could. I couldn't be sure that pressing the splines into the tube wouldn't make them slightly out of alignment, so I'm happy it's all good.No vibration at all Nodge.
I expected no less.
TBH I haven't been running it all that fast but it seems to be great. I tried shoving the motor about to see if I could introduce vibration but nothing really so I guess the alignment must be pretty good. When I get the video edited you'll see.I'm pleased. Whilst I machined the parts to the finest tolerances I could. I couldn't be sure that pressing the splines into the tube wouldn't make them slightly out of alignment, so I'm happy it's all good.
Did you notice I countersunk the weld hole a bit with a large drill? Last time I tried welding through a hole I kept hitting the edge before hitting the centre so I figured it would do no harm to widen the opening a bit to try and avoid this.
When you install the motor, are you going to shove the motor to the limit of movement in all directions, marking the stop positions. So you can ascertain the central location for the shafts. Doing this will minimise side loads on the motor and gearbox bearings, and wear on the splines.I tried shoving the motor about to see if I could introduce vibration but nothing really so I guess the alignment must be pretty good.
When I finish welding the coupler I'll try that but I don't think I'll be able to move it around much.I see you've chamfered the holes, and agree that it would make welding easier.
When you install the motor, are you going to shove the motor to the limit of movement in all directions, marking the stop positions. So you can ascertain the central location for the shafts. Doing this will minimise side loads on the motor and gearbox bearings, and wear on the splines.
Unfortunately I somehow mistook the motor bolts for m10 1mm pitch but they seem to be m10 1.25mm pitch so I need to order the correct drills and a tap for them.